10.7-Gb/s Real-Time Transmission Over 1-mm Large-Core Polymer Optical Fiber Using Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation

We report 10.7-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) real-time transmission over a 1-mm large-core polymethylmetacrylate polymer optical fiber (POF) using maximum likelihood sequence estimation. A maximum link length of 10 m of a standard step-index POF (SI-POF) and 35-m graded-index POF (GI-POF) was achieved with a fiber coupled power of 0 dBm, in order to comply with consumer eye-safety regulations. In order to show the robustness of this approach, the influence of fiber bends and different launching conditions were investigated. If the optical output power is increased to ${+}{\rm 2}~{\rm dBm}$ the link length can be increased up to 40 m of GI-POF.